I'm Just Glad It Wasn't You
by NokaKomi
Summary: "...I'm a failure," he heard Leo finally speak. "I failed you guys, I failed Sensei, I failed Karai..."He sighed again, opening his eyes. "I failed everyone...". When Leo thinks he failed everyone Raphael steps in and says the opposite. Why so? This story is based after Vengeance is Mine episode.


**A/N: This story is based after Vengeance is Mine, warning it contains some spoilers.**

They could all hear his silent crying that came from his room. They all stood there around his bed room door not sure whether they should go in or wait.

But the red masked turtle had enough of waiting. He growled and walked closer to the door and raised his hand to knock, but a hand gripped his wrist firmly. He turned his head around and looked up at his purple masked brother.

"What?" he whispered in annoyance.

"Don't... Give him space," he calmly whispered back.

Raph pulled his hand out of the grip and turned to him, looked him straight in the eyes and flew his hands in the air.

"Wait more than three hours!? The guy went in to his room the moment we stepped in the lair. He hasn't eaten since breakfast and he's been crying for about an hour and you want me to wait?"

Donnie sighed, he looked away and tried to think of a way to answer.

"Whether you're going in or not, I'm going in. I don't want to wait until he hurts himself."

He looked back at his brother's door and sighed, he gently knocked on the door.

"Leo? Come on, it's time to get out."

Only silence answered him. He placed his hand on the doorknob.

"It's locked,"Donnie informed him.

Raph bent down a little bit, then got his small knife out and started picking at the lock. It took him a few minutes before they heard a "click". He got up, then opened the door quietly and went in. Don was about to enter and so was his younger brother but then the door shut in front of them and they heard another "click" signaling Raph relocking the door.

Donnie stepped back then he saw his Mikey smiling holding another knife.

Raph looked at the bed as he walked to it; his brother leaned sideways on the wall, wrapped up in a blanket. Leo opened his eyes when his bed dipped down as Raph sat down. He kept his back to Raph as he sighed.

"Hey Raph..."

"S'up bro? You alright?" Raph asked as he placed his hand on Leo's shoulder and gently squeezed it.

"...no…."He whispered and closed his eyes in sadness.

Raph sighed sadly; he slowly shifted closer then leaned his weight on Leo's shoulder. He wasn't the smoochie lovey-dovey type of person where he would hug his brothers to comfort them. He would only lean on them to have connection between them.

"...I'm a failure," he heard Leo finally speak. "I failed you guys, I failed Sensei, I failed Karai..."He sighed again, opening his eyes. "I failed everyone..."Raph turned his head to see the side of his face. He saw his eyes sparkle as tears formed. "I just wanted to make things better but... I just ruined it more."

He curled into himself more and placed his head on his knees. Raph felt sympathy for his brother; he looked at the wall in front of him then narrowed his eyes.

"We all make mistakes Leo, you're not the only one," he pointed out. "Just because you're the leader, it doesn't mean you are perfect, and you shouldn't be..."

"I only wanted to make Splinter happy... I just wanted to get Karai home safely but instead I mutated her..."He shuddered. "I ruined everything! I... I..."He shook his head then sobbed quietly again. "Donnie said he doesn't know if he can turn her back! She lost most of her sanity, she almost ate Splinter! And ... and..."

Raph closed his eyes sadly, he never realized what internal battle Leo faced every time he failed. Today was a bad day... They tried hard to fix it but everything just went down. He sometimes wished they didn't have to take care of this city. They took all of its responsibility and had never been thanked even just once...

Raph looked at Leo again, his brother stared at the candle in front of him. Tears slowly fell over his maskless face.

"To be honest with you Leo, I think you did quite the opposite."

Leo frowned and turned his head slightly to Raph.

"I mean we returned home safely. I mean, yes, my eyes still burn a little bit but…" He subconsciously wiped his eyes. "We're alive."

Leo tensed for a moment, Raphael heard him as he inhaled then exhaled slowly.

"What about Karai, Raph?"Leo huffed angrily.

"What about her?"Raph asked causally. He got up and faced Leo with a serious look. "She ain't dead and that's what matters."

"She's a mutant!"Leo snarled as he stood in front of Raph. He found it very surprising how hard it was to get this point in his brother's head. "What part of 'she got mutated' do you not understand?"

"The part where you say it in a very fearful way!"Raphael spat. "What's wrong with being a mutant?" he added with confusion. "You're a mutant, I'm a mutant, Sensei is a mutant. News flash for you: 90 percent of the people we know are mutants! So why are you making a big deal out of Karai?"

Leo stood there in silence. Slowly, he sat back down on the bed, as if the information was too much to handle. Raphael calmed down when he saw Leo cover his face with his palms. Perhaps that didn't work...?

"Leo. I'm sorry we messed up, but I don't see this as your fault, bro."Raph sighed then sat next to him. "You tried everything you could do. You tried your best, bro. It just seems that the universe wasn't on your side."

Leo slowly looked up towards his wall.

"I'm just... I'm glad it wasn't you who fell in there,"Raph mumbled the last part soquietly that Leo barely heard it. He turned and looked at Raph as he continued. "Heck bro, I... I can't imagine you falling in there. You're my brother Leo."Raphael met his eyes. "You're more important to me than anyone else I've seen in this life."

"Raph..."Leo whispered with disbelief.

"I mean if it was you, bro, believe me, I would have known that there would be NO hope in returning you to normal. You're a mutant, that's one thing it would be even harder for Donnie to create a retro-mutagen that wouldn't completely turn you back to normal. As in a normal pet turtle,"Raph pointed out. "Second, Karai wouldn't have been able to deal with this mess. You're trained to be a leader, she's not and if she was, she did a horrible job when she was leading Dogpound and Fishface. So that means no one would take your place correctly. It would have been a mess," he added. "But you, you at least know what to do. You're our leader, and believe it or not I'm waiting 'til you tell us what to do next, because I know it's the right way to go; you never failed us and never will."

Leo blinked few times.

"Wow... that was deep,"he said with utter disbelief.

Raph chuckled. "Yeah... I have my moments."

Leo smiled softly. "I guess now you want to know what to do next?" Raphael nodded. "We sleep. We all need that, tomorrow we'll think of what to do next. Right now,"he yawned. "It's time to call it a night."

"You betcha,"Raphael agreed. He then flonked backwards on the bed."Well, if you'll excuse me. All this deep talk has worn me out. So scoot over."

Leo smiled brighter, he adjusted the pillows then sighed comfortably. He then turned and looked at Raph. "Hey Raph?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Raph smiled. "Any time buddy."

The End

**A/N: First let me take some time to thank Danni, also known as TheOneThatGotAway99, for beta reading my story. Thanks gurl! :D Second, wow, episode Vengeance is Mine was really… intense? I was kind of not happy with it, but it was pretty good. I guess it was too surprising… Hope you enjoyed reading this story! **


End file.
